Telephone system



Jan. 12 ,1926. 1,569,677

W. T. POWELL A TELEPHONE SYSTEM Filed Dec. s, 1922 REGULAR Pos-non GROUP 0|' LINES.

. AmQUARY Posmon FROM SECOND INVENTOR ATTORNEY WWW-'RED T. POWELL.

Patented Jan. 12K, 19226.

; meer?? UNITED' 'STATES' PATENT form-c WINFRED T. IT'OVVELL,l 0F ROCHESTER,

A CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

p NEW`YOEK, ASSIGNOR TO THE STROMBERG- CARLSON TELEPHONE .MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, vNEW' YORK,

h TELEPHONE SYSTEM. l

each Operator uniformi i busy. Attempts' have been made'to obtainy this result, by'

what is'commonly known in this art, as call' distribution, that is, the use of automatic' switches or relays means such as automatic for evenly distributing Jcallsto the opeiators.

`This means while it accomplishes the pur-I pose is especiallyl expensive and results in high maintenance cost so thattlius far-such;

arrangements have hady but limited use.

It has alsobeen proposed to eliminate the sdcalled multiple jacks in the switchboard and to provide instead multiple answering jacks andassociated line lampsv atfeach of the operators vpositions'at the switchboard. This arrangement however, has the disadr Vantage' that the .answering equipment at the switchboard is great-ly increased while the size of the exchange is greatl' limited owing to the space required for t eadded line lamps.. In such a system, since several operators may attempt to answer thesame cal at the same time, kdue to the fact rthat the multiple line lamps at the calling line arelghted at a pluralityof positions, all the cord circuits must be equipped with so-called operators-barrmg means, which is effective.

to permit the connection of only one oper-V ator to a callingline in the event that two,`

operators attempt to answer a-call. The, cord circuits are thus made more complicated and much more expensive.

For the purpose of overcoming the defects of both of these mentioned .1.iian, 3;e v

ments, it is proposed to have each. pair oflines terminate in a single answering jack at a regular operators position,`.an`d in the` event thatvboth of the lines are in use at the same time, the second line of the pair is con- Dectel .te .2.1.1.1 easrerins iaeleommon te the Application inea neemberf *Y p pairof lines at aso-called T. POWELL,

manual telephone lsystem maximum 1,

.pear from the detailed s, i922.y seriai no. eosyzis. .f

tion. This arrangement is proposed since it has been observed that the lines .of a pair not both in use at the same time.

maybe so associatedI thatordinarily they are The main feature of this arrangement is,

therefore, the provision of means whereby a .pairof telephonelines have a common terminal at one operators position and a second common Atermlnal at a second .operators position. Y

Other features of this invention will apdescription and appended claims.

jTlie drawing diagrammatically represents only a portion ofthe telephone system in which two lines whose substations appear at Athe extreme left, arey extended to the main exchange at which the portion of the draw-l ings above and'to the-right of the dotted Vline .represents aregular operators position at a auxiliary posimanual? switchboard. The portion of the drawingsto the right andbelow the dotted linev represents the, .auxiliary or secondaryl position at the same manual switchboard.

For, convenienceV in description itis assumcd that the telephone lines are Vdivided into groups of two hundred lines each and that theselines are further arranged in yone i ,hundred pairs .which terminate' in a vregular Operators position at4 the switchboard in one hundred jacks, ,g This same hundred pairs of vlines also terminatein answering jacks at an anxiliaryposition. If the lines'are properly associated a very small number of callsv need-be answered through an auxiliary posiytion,f and for this reason the Aauxiliary answeringjacksof several hundred pairs of lines terminate at this -same auxiliary vposition. i i It will, ofcourse, be understood that thc number ofanswering jacks at a regular posii tion maybe .greatly increased depending upon the speedoffthe average operatory and thatthe number ofanswering jacksV at the auxiliary position mayy be correspondingly increasedso that the `system is not necessarily limited as abovefoutlined It-is believedthat the: inventionwill best be understoodby describing the method of yso extending a calling telephone line to an operators position at the main exchange.

lVhen the subscriber at A initiates a call, by removing his receiver from its svvitchhook, the line relay 5 is operated from grounded battery, Winding of this relay,back contact and iniddle armature of cut-olf relay 6, lower side ot the calling line and through the substation circuits at A ink series, over the upper side of the calling line, lowermost back contact and armature of cut-oil relay 6 to ground. As soon as the line relay 5 is operated it causes the energization of the relay 7 in a circuit extending from grounded battery, armature and front Contact `of relay 5, conductor 8, middle armature and back contact of relay 9, conductor 10, lower Winding ot relay 7 to ground. lVith the relay 7 operated a pilot lamp 11 associated with the answering jack J ,of the pair of lines A and B is lighted over a circuit completed from ground, through the lamp 11, innermost front contact and armature of relay 7, front Contact and armature of line relay 5 to grounded battery.

The operator at the regular position on noting that the lamp 11 is lighted inserts' the answering plug of her cord circuit C which may be ot any Wellknown type, into the jack J whereupon the relay 7 is locked" operated from grounded battery through the sleeve of the last mentioned plug, sleeve of the jack J, upper `winding, iront` contact and armature of relay 7, Winding of the tutioi relay 6 to ground. The cut-oft relay 6 is thus operated and attracts its armatures to disconnect the line relay 5 from the calling line. This line relay thereupon de energizes and extinguishes the line lamp 1l. It the associated even line of substation B has not initiated a call 'during the time that the line A is in use, When the operato-r at the` regular position removes her plug P from the jack J the cut-o relay `6 and the relay 7 deenergize.

I While the calling line A is extended through the regular operators position, the

line B initiates a call, this line is extended to the jack' J f of the pair of lines A and B on an auxiliary position. Under this assumption the linerelay 12 is energized from Aerven-ded battery, Winding 0f this relay, beek contact and middle armature of cut-ott' relay 30, conductor 14 of the calling line through the substation circuits in series at B, conductor 15 of the calling line, lowermost armature 'and back contact of cut-oil relay V30 to ground. The operation of line relay@ lights the line lamp 1 6 0f the aS- sociated pair Qt lines et the auxiliary Opelators position, p line lamp 16 extends from grounded bat` terr, armature eetl trent contact 0f liu@ relay 12, armatureand front contact of relay The .Circuit 'tor lighting 7, conductor 19, through lampl to ground. The operator at the auxiliary position then inserts the plug otthecord circuit C1 into the jack J of the associated pair of lines, Which operation extends sleeve contacts of the plug and jack J conductor 18, uppermost armature and front contact ot' relay 7, conductor 19, Winding ot cut-ofi relay 30 to ground. The energization of relay 30 disconnects the line relay 12 l'roin its associated line B which results in the deenergization of this line re lay and the consequentextinguishing of line lamp 16. Then the operator at the auxiliary position has removed the plug of Vher cord circuit nfrom the jack J the operating circuit of the cut-oill relay 8O is interrupted permitting this relay to deenergize and to reconnect the line relaylQto the line Bj It Will be noted in this case. that as soon Vas the cut-oil relay 30 is operated it closes a locking circuit tor itself, independent ol' the contacts of relay 7 so that the connection to jack J of the auxiliary position Willl not be interrupted inthe event of the deenergization or' the relay 7. The locking` circuit for the relay 30 isnoW 'closed from ground, winding of this relay, its innermost `front contact and armature, upper back contact and armature of relay 9, conductor 23, sleeve Contact ot the jaclrJ, sleeve of the answering plug of the operators cord circuit C to grounded battery.`

It has doubtless been noticed that the switching relay 9 has not beenoperated un-W' der either of the foregoing'` conditions With the result that the odd line A is connected tothe regular operators position While the even line B is `connected to the auxiliary operators position. This Was due to the fact that the even line B did not initiate a call until its associated jack J Was already in use. i

Let it be assumed that the line B initiates a call at a time when the line A is not call-Y ing. Under this. assumption When the line relay 12 is energized over a circuit including conductors 14 and 15 as already described, the switching relay 9 is actuated from grounded battery, armature and 'front contact of line relay 12, loivermost armature and back contact oi relay 7, lower Winding o't relay 9 to ground` The relay 9 on operation closes a. locking circuit for itself troni ground through its lower winding, its inneri ino-st front contacts and armature, armature and iront contact, of relay 12Vto grounded battery. `lVith the relay 9 operated switching relay 2O is actuated from grounded batJ battery through the connects it to the jack J at the-'auxiliary Vwith the jack J isnoW lighted from ground,

lamp l1. conductor 2?, innermost front contact and armature -of relay 9, `front contact and armature oit linerelay 12 to grounded battery. l/Vhen the operator atv the. regular position ansivers this call by inserting the plug` o't cord circuit C into 'jack J Y the cut-ott' relay 8O is energized from ground,vvinding o'lthis relay, conductor 19, inner upper armature and front contact, and Winding 'of relay 9, conductor 21, sleeve ot' the jack J, sleeve of the' plug connected thereto to y, grounded battery.v- The cut-ott relay 30 on energization disconnectsthe line relay 12 from theconductors oit its line B, `thereby entinguishingthe line lampv 11. This cutolil relay is noiv held operated from ground, lwinding of this relay, conductor 19, innerinost upper armature and front contact of relay 9, Winding of this relay, conductor. 21,

.through the sleeve contacts ot the jack J .and

the plug P of the cord circuit C, and through a resistance to grounded battery. ilVhen the operator at the regular position terminates the .call by rreniovingthe plug from tlieY ack J, relays 9, 12 and 20deenergize to leave the circuits in their normal' condition.

1i, however, during the time .that the line l); Vis initiating a call,.the line the line lamp 16 at the auxiliary position is lighted from grounchlamp 16, armature and `ront Contact of relay 9, conductor 8, front contact and armature lof line relay v5 to ygrounded battery. Theoperat'or at the auxiliary position inserts the answering plug of her cord circuit intothe jack J and completes a circuit from'v jack J conductor 28, vuppermost armature and front Contact of relay 9,* conductor 24,

Winding of vthe cut-oli? relay 6 to ground.A

Cut oil' relay 6' is operated to close a looking circuit for itself,'independent of the conthrough the sleeve. contacts. of the jack-J" and plug. Also soon as cut-off relay 6 is operated, switching lrelay; 20 is locked operated troni grounded battery, its Winding, loiverinost 'l'ront contact and armature ot relay 6 to ground.l 1n thisway if line l terminates its connection before the line Alias completed its telephone conversation,v

the connection between line. A and jack'J att-he auxiliary positionfis not interrupted. in case the subscriber at line B initiates a second call before the subscriber at line'A terminates the` connection just idescribed' then'line B is reconnected to the jack J atV scriberon lineA terminates the call.`

A starts av call,

Y grounded 'battery,`- through the sleeve contacts of the plug and the regular operators position. It should be stated that the relays 7' and 9 are designed to be slightly slow in releasing their Aarmatures so that when the subscriber at "the calling line replaces his receiver on its switch hook, While the plug is in the multiplei jacket its associated line' the cut-ott7 relays such as 6 and 30 of this calling line will not be locl.ed. Let it be assumed that line B is busy as'a called line, during the time that line A :is calling and thatthe sub In the event-that the relays 7 and 9 are not slow releasing, then the cut-oli relay 6 is held operated from ground, its Winding, itsinnermost front contact andarmati'ire, uppermost backv contactV and armature o relay 7, conductors 18 and 23, uppermost armature and back contact of relay 9, innermost armature and front contact of relay 30,7

sition, a secondary operatorls position, an

answering jack foreach pair oit' telephone lines at each of said-operators positions, means responsive to the initiation of a call on either of said lines for connecting saidcalling line to said primary position and for connecting` the other telephone line oic said pair to said secondary position.

2. The method oit handling' telephone calls which consists in grouping the-lines in pairs.y extending a call from either of a pair of lines to a predetermined outlet, thereupon extending a call Vcontcinporaneously originated from the other line of the pair to a second predetern'iined outlet and then havingl operators complete the connections. i

3. In a telephone system, aV pair` of telephone lines, a primary opcrators position, a secondary operator-s position, 'an answering jack for `said lines in each operators position, one telephone line of a` pair being vnormally connected to theanswering jackat one operators position7 the second tel-ephone line ot' the pair being normally con-l nected to an answering jack of the second operator-s position, and a relay responsive "to a call on saidsecond telephone line for eonni-xcting` said line to said jack at said iii-st posit-ion and for transferring the connection oi said first line from its jack ati-the tirst lposition to said j ack atsaid second position. l. In a telephone system, a pairr ofvtelethrough the ivell-knovvn' )zich at said liri-t position and for transferring the connection oli said first line from its jaclr at the first position to its jack at the second position, and means tor holdingthe lines in the condition thus extended until both oit' the lines have terminated their calls.

5. ln a telephone system, telephone lines arranged in pairs, a primary operators position, a secondary operators position, an answering jack Yfor each pair of telephone lines at each of said operators positions, a signa-l associated with each of said jacks, and means responsive to the initiation of a call on either of said lines for operating the signal ot said pair ot lines at said primary position, said means also functioning to connect the other telephone line of said pair to said secondary position.

6. ln a telephone system, telephone lines arranged in groups, a primary operators position, a secondary operators position, an answering jack for the lines of a group at each of said operators positions, a signal associated with each of Said jacks, a switching relay, a line relay and a cut-oil relay for each of said telephone lines, means responsive to the initiation or" a call on oneof the telephone lines of a group for operating the line relay and switching` relay of said line, means responsive to the actuation of said line relayT and said switching relay for op rating the signal oi,V said group oli' lines at said primary position, a cord circuit and means responsive to the connection of said cord circuit with said calling telephone line for operating said cut-ott relay, and means controllel by said cnt-oli relay for terminating the operation of said signal.

7. ln a telephone system, telephone lines arranged in groups, a primary operators position, a secondary operators position, an answering jack for the lines of a group at each of said operators positions, a signal associated with each of said jacks, a switching relay, a line relay and a cut-oli relay for cach oi said telephone lines, means responsive to the initiation of a call on one of the telephone lines oi' a group for operating the line relay and switching relay of said 'telephone line, means responsive to the actuation oi said line relay and said switching relay for operating the signal of said group oif lines at said primary position, a cord circuit, means responsive to the connection phone line for operating said cut-off relay,

means controlled by vsaid cut-off relay for terminating the operation of said signal, and means for locking said cut-oil? relay and switching relay operated while said cord circuit is connected to said telephone line.

8. In a telephone system, telephone lines arranged in pairs, a primary operators position, a secondary operators position, an answering jack for each pair of telephone lines at each of said operators positions, a line relay, a switching relay and a cut-oli relay for each telephone line, means responsive to the initiationV of a call on one of said telephone lines for operating its associated line relay, means controlled by said operated line relay for operating the switching relay of said telephone line, means controlled by the joint operation of of its telephone line, and an additional relay i controlled by the operationof one of said switching relays :tor reversing the normal connections of said telephone lines at said primary and secondary positions.

9. In a telephone system, telephone lines arranged in pairs, a primary operators position, a secondary operators position, cord circuits at each oi said positions, an answering jaclr for each pair of telephone lines at each of said operators positions, a line relay, a switching relay, and a cnt-off relay for each telephone line, means responsive to the initiation of a call on one of said telephone lines for operating its associated line relay` means controlled by said operated line relay for operating the switching relay oi said telephone line, means controlled by the joint operation of said line relay and said switchpair of lines at said primary position., a cord circuit, means responsive to the connection of said cord circuit to said calling telephone line for operating the'ciit-oiil relay of the calling line, means responsive to the operation of said cut-ofi relay tor terminating the operation of said signal and for removing said telephone line, an additional relay controlled by the operation of one of said switching relays for reversing the normal connections of said telephone lines at said primary and secondary positions, and means for main- Vtaining said last mentioned switching relay l said line relay andV said switching relay for operating the signal ing relay for operating the signal of said l-ine relay from the control of itsV operated While a eord circuit remaine" connected to its telephone line.

l0. The method of handling telephone calls which consists'n grouping the lines in ously originated from the other line of the j pair to a second predetermined out1etand completing the. cells from said outlets, 10 In Witness whereof,r I hereunto subscribe my name this 7th day of December A. D.,

WINFRED T. POWELL. 

